Frazier excited to join revamped White Sox lineup

Todd Frazier wanted to play his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds, but one look at the Chicago White Sox projected lineup has the third baseman grinning.

"I've got to be truthful to you, I'm pretty excited," Frazier told reporters. "I just saw the lineup on TV. It put a smile on my face."

Frazier was the lone piece heading to the Windy City in part of a three-team, seven-player deal consummated Wednesday between the White Sox, Reds, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The two-time All-Star is a hefty improvement at third base for the White Sox, who also added second baseman Brett Lawrie in the last week. Despite an active offseason a year ago, Chicago hit an AL-worst 136 home runs. The additions of Lawrie and Frazier should help fix some of those offensive issues, as the duo combined to go deep 51 times in 2015.

2016 PROJECTED LINEUP

Frazier has appeared in at least 150 games in each of the past three seasons, going deep an average of 28 times, while adding a bit of speed as evidenced by his 39 stolen bases over that time. The 29-year-old ranked second among NL third baseman in homers last season, and third in slugging.

"He is a high-character, smart baseball player who will provide an impact bat in the middle of our order," Hahn said. "He solidifies us defensively at third base and provides a great presence in our lineup and in the clubhouse."

Frazier joins the long list of Reds' stars the team has shipped out of the past year, as the team gears to rebuild. Taken in the first round in 2007, Frazier had spent his entire five-year career in Cincinnati, with the fan favorite under contract through the 2017 season.

"This was very difficult to do, a difficult phone call to make, but as we look forward to what we're set out to do here, to get this team back in contention as quickly as we can, we felt this was part of the process to get to that point," Reds president Walt Jocketty told C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer.